Class Project
by delorean88
Summary: Marlene McFly and an OC are doing a class project about life for teenagers in the 1980s. But when they accidentally go to 1986, they experience it firsthand. Hilarity ensues. Story complete! Please review!
1. Friday, May 1st, 2016, 02:45 pm

Disclaimer: I don't own BTTF. Universal does.

Friday, May 1st, 2016, 02:45 p.m.

Allen Thomas, a bespectacled young African American boy of about seventeen, shifted slightly in his seat. The Hill Valley high school day would be ending soon, and he'd be free for the weekend. But first he had to endure the evils of Ms. Strickland's Language Arts period. They were doing group projects, and Strickland was picking.

"Allen Thomas?" she asked suddenly.

"Yes?"

"You're with…Marlene McFly."

_Oh, man… _Allen thought_. Not her…_ She had been staring at him with those big googly eyes for the entire period for reasons Allen could not fathom. Personally, Allen thought she was cute but still rather creepy.

"Really!" exclaimed Marlene excitedly.

"Yes," said Strickland. "I hope you actually choose to WORK, Marlene. Allen is a gifted student and I'm sure he doesn't want to bring his grade down because of you. Of course, that doesn't mean that you should just have him do all the work. Is that understood?"

"Yes, MA'AM!" Marlene replied with evident sarcasm.

"And Allen, keep up the good work. Don't be a slacker."

"Right."

_**BRRRRRINNG!**_

Allen shuffled with his books for a second before rising from his seat. _Oh, crap, here she comes_, he thought as Marlene started walking towards his desk. He stiffened.

"H-hey, Marlene…"

"Allen! Hi! So, we're partners now. What do you want to do the project on? I kind of want to see what's on your mind." She was grinning like a maniac.

"Ummmmm…I was thinking about a compare and contrast type of thing on life for teens our age thirty years ago compared to life for teens now, but it's just a suggestion… I don't really know what I wanna do."

"That's a great idea," Marlene said as she playfully slapped him on the back. "We can study tonight at my house. My parents grew up in that time period, and we could ask them."

"Okay…you live in Hilldale, right?"

"Yeah!"

"Alright, I think I know where. I go past your house almost every day on my hoverboard."

"Cool, meet me there in…" Marlene looked at her digital watch. "Two hours."

"Great, see you then!"

With that, the two high school students went their separate ways.


	2. Friday, May 1st, 2016, 06:02 pm

Disclaimer: Once again, I DO NOT own BTTF. Universal does…I just wish I owned a DeLorean…

Friday, May 1st, 2016, 06:02 p.m.

Allen could hear the soft _WHOOSH_ of the air circulating around the stainless steel hoverboard as he sped toward his destination. _This is so much fun_, he thought, adjusting his holographic multicolored baseball cap. _I can't imagine what kids would do for amusement back in the day. To think they actually still used wheels on these? Unbelievable! _He came to a stop at the McFly's front porch, flipping the board up to catch it expertly in his right hand. He knocked on the door. It opened to reveal a fortyish looking old man in a plaid white shirt and blue slacks, with graying brown hair. He was holding a Pepsi Free in one hand and a vintage 1980s electric guitar in the other.

"Hey! How's it goin'? You're Allen, right?"

"Uh…yeah. How are you, Mr. McFly?"

The man chuckled. "Please, call me Marty. Hey, here's Marlene now." He stepped aside to reveal Marlene, who had changed into a low cut green halter top and dark blue denim jeans.

"Hey, Allen, I just was on the Internet and found a bunch of stuff on Dogpile to look through. Come see," she said as she pulled Allen into the house and quickly shut the door behind him. His jaw dropped as he looked around the living room. Allen had never seen so many photos before.

"Computer, change to the Scenery Channel," Marty said suddenly. Almost immediately the room was filled with sounds and images of an African rain forest.

"Shall we go up to my room?" Marlene asked Allen with a sly smile on her face.

"Uh…yeah, that's fine, I guess."

"Hey, Allen, just to warn you, her room is really messy and unbearably pink." Marty said, smiling.

They ascended the stairs to enter Marlene's room. Allen winced at the wallpaper. _Ugh_, he thought. _I have never seen so much pink in my life…pink bed, pink computer, pink MP10 player…_

"Computer, show previous page." Marlene said

A window for My Space appeared on the laptop's screen.

"Oh, yeah, you've definitely been studying hard, Marlene," Allen said sarcastically.

"Just wait a second," Marlene chuckled nervously. "Computer, show the page previous to this one."

A Dogpile list appeared. For a while, they scrolled…and scrolled…and scrolled…but Allen and Marlene still couldn't find anything relevant to the project.

"Darn it, these stupid search engines have been this way for as long I can remember!" Allen exclaimed after about 45 minutes of scrolling and searching. "I think we should do this the old fashioned way—go to the Hill Valley library!"

"Great idea," Marlene said. "I'll ask Dad if we can use the DeLorean…if he isn't working on it. And if he is, we can use the truck."

"DELOREAN!" Allen exclaimed. "You guys have a DELOREAN! Cool!"

"Yeah, he bought it at a car expo about fifteen years ago, and since then he's been putting a lot of weird mods on it."

"No kidding?"

"Seriously. Would I lie to you?"

"No, I guess not."

"Do you wanna see it or not?"

"Of course!"

As they entered the McFly garage, Allen was in awe of the DeLorean. He had never seen anything like it before, and the gizmos and other stuff on it gave it an added sense of mystery. Marty was messing with some stuff under the hood, and casually looked at a large, yellowed piece of paper that was titled "Doc's Diagrams."

"Hey, Dad, finished yet? We kind of need to go to the library to do more research." Marlene said.

"Sure, honey, just let me finish this one last…ah! There we go!" Marty closed the hood. "She's all yours!" He handed Marlene the keys.

"Okay then…we'll be back by seven."

"Alrighty…oh, and Marlene?"

"Yeah?"

"Make sure you don't drive 88 miles an hour, please…"

"Right."

Allen opened the passenger door. _It flips UP! How cool is that?_ As he got in and put his hoverboard in the rear seat, he noticed an odd readout. The screens were blank, so the apparatus, whatever it was, was obviously turned off.

"So, Allen, ready to go back in time?" Marlene asked, grinning as she buckled her seat belt.

"What?"

"I mean, are you ready to discover the 80's?"

"Oh…yeah, I suppose I am."

"All right, then."

When they came to the first stoplight, Marlene suddenly said, "Uh-oh!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"Griff…"

Griff Tannen, the school bully and resident pain in the butt, was in the next lane. "Hey, Marlene!" he crooned. "Wanna go to the movies Saturday?"

"Not on your life, butthead!"

"Why not! I ain't man enough for ya! Well, you'll be my girl someday, one way or the other!"

The light turned green and Marlene quickly sped off, activating the hover circuits and sending the DeLorean flying upward.

"Hey, the library was only a few more miles away!" Allen said. "Why'd you start going the opposite direction?"

"It's faster this way, and I don't want him following us…besides, isn't it exhilarating, flying and all that?" Marlene sighed. "I wish he'd stop. He's harassed me since the ninth grade. You know how annoying that is?"

"Yeah…I can relate." _But_ _you've made passes at me more times than he has to you._ Allen smiled. _How ironic_.

"Anyway, let's quit talking about it and concentrate on our project." They landed in the parking lot of the library. It was a rather large brick building and looked very welcoming. They went in.

"I'll check the catalog. Meet me in the non-fiction section," Allen said.

"CRAP!" Marlene exclaimed. Griff was approaching them from the next room with a despicable smirk on his face.

"What?"

"Griff fooled us…he was trailing us the whole time! Come on. We're outta here."

"But what about the--"

"We'll worry about the project later. Right now, we've gotta lose that weirdo!"

"Hey, Marlene…funny seeing you here, sweet cheeks." Griff called. He was now about five feet away.

"Save it!"

"What? You don't have anything better to do. You gonna hang around Urkel here all evening?" He grabbed her by the arm. "You're comin' home…with me."

"Hey Griff, look over there!"

"Huh?"

SMACK! Allen punched Griff in the face.

"I'll get you for that, you little weasel!"

Allen and Marlene sprinted for the DeLorean. "See? I told you he was crazy!" Marlene said as they got in.

They pulled out of the lot and sped off. Griff did the same in his '08 Ford covertible.

"All right, let's see if you can do 90, you bastard!" Marlene pulled a large black lever.

_ZZIT! _The odd monitors crackled to life. Under "Destination Time," it read "September 25, 1986, 05:00 p.m."

"Ooops… wrong lever...let's see, the transmission should be over…HERE!"

The DeLorean began accelerating rapidly as the digital readout read 75 mph.

"Wait a minute, Marlene, your dad said not to go 88!"

"Screw that!"

_80_.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"No!"

_85_.

"Watch it, he's gaining!"

87.

"I hope you know what you're doing!"

_88_.

All of a sudden, the car began crackling and surging with electrical energy.

"What the—"

**_BANG! BANG! BANG! WHOOSH!_**

The DeLorean vanished into thin air, leaving two flaming fire trails in its wake.

"What the—"

**_CRASH!_**

Griff collided with a passing manure truck. He groaned in pain, then slumped against the dashboard, unconscious and covered in shit.

**_NEXT: BACK TO THE PAST! _**


	3. Thursday, September 26, 1986, 05:00 pm

_**(A/N: Thanks for all the kind reviews! You guys are great. Also, in my version of the BTTF Universe, Marlene McFly looks a lot more like Jennifer than Marty…simply because Michael J. Fox in drag is just plain creepy. Anyway, on with the story! Back to the Future theme plays) **_

Disclaimer: Once again, I DO NOT own Back to the Future…however, I do own Allen Thomas, so ha!

Thursday, September 26, 1986, 05:00 p.m.

Marty McFly was lost in thought as he walked past the Hill County public library. Another school year had started, and even though it was his senior year, he felt as though he had learned more in the past year than in his entire academic career. He had learned a lesson about selfishly using technology for personal gain when he and Doc had to save the future from an evil, corrupt, and powerful Biff Tannen who became powerful as a result of a stupid choice that Marty had made. He had learned about the power of love when Doc courted Clara in 1885. Last but not least, Marty had gotten to know his parents a lot better after meeting them as teenagers. But the adventure had been over for nearly a year now, and the DeLorean was lost, destroyed, gone forever, and Doc was living happily in the late nineteenth century. _It's time to grow up_, Marty thought. _I've had my fun, but now I need to concentrate on Jennifer, my music career, and my family. I guess there comes a time in every kid's life where he decides who he's going to be… _

_**BANG! BANG! BANG! WHOOSH!**_

"Holy--"

The DeLorean materialized before Marty's eyes in a brilliant flash of blinding blue light and came to a screeching halt. _So much for that idea! What is all this!_

The familiar car didn't look so familiar. I don't remember flames being painted on there…Marty thought. The gull wing doors opened to reveal a tall, skinny black kid about Marty's age and a young girl who looked like she could be related to Marty.

"What the heck just happened!" the black guy asked. "And where the heck are we?"

"Allen, for once in your life, I'd actually like to hear you swear." the girl replied, smiling.

"Okay, fine…where the hell are we!" the boy whose name was obviously Allen cried.

"You mean, WHEN the hell are you," Marty said as he walked over to them. "And today is September 26th, 1986, at approximately 5:01 p.m."

"You mean to tell me your dad built a TIME MACHINE—out of a DeLorean!" Allen asked in amazement.

"You mean to tell me you two didn't know this thing WAS a time machine!" Marty asked.

"Umm…no." the girl replied. "Are you Marty McFly?"

"Yes."

"Senior?"

"Yeah, that would be me. What are you my future daughter or something?"

"Yes."

"Hold on, wait a minute," Allen said suddenly. "How did you, or at least the future you, build a time machine, and how would you know about it before you even built it?"

"I didn't build a time machine. I knew time travel was possible…I had done it before…and as far as building one, I wasn't planning on it…" Marty trailed off. "Look, you two, I don't have the time for this, and you should probably be getting back to the future anyway, right? So why don't you make like a tree and leave?"

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Marlene exclaimed suddenly.

"What?" Marty asked.

"Someone actually said that the RIGHT way!"

"Said what?"

"That expression. The one person I've known to say that always said 'Make like a tree and get outta here!'" Marlene replied.

"It wasn't a Tannen, was it?"

"It was a guy named Griff. He hits on me all the time--in the future, I mean. And we should probably be getting back to the future."

"Yeah, but look, maybe you two shouldn't run off so quickly. I--I could hide the car in my dad's garage for a while with my Toyota...you two could ...hang out. Just don't do anything stupid, since it could totally alter future events."

"Hey, this could be a great opportunity to experience the info we need for our project first hand," Allen said suddenly, pulling Marlene's arm. "Let's go."

"Hey, wait!" Marty called. "You guys need to uh, change clothes! You don't want to look stupid, do you?"

About twenty minutes later, Allen and Marlene were walking through the main square of 1986 Hill Valley.

"Could you be any more conspicuous!" Allen cried. "Marlene, you look like a ho--"

"A WHOLESOME teenager," said Marlene, who had changed into an even lower red top, cutoff short jeans, and black thong sandals. Allen was wearing a golden-brown and red plaid shirt with some loose fitting Nautica jeans and oversize white high-tops.

"Hey, where the heck is the mall!" Marlene exclaimed as she stared up at the courthouse. "You mean back in the day this was just a boring old courthouse? I don't believe it!"

"I'll put that in our notes for the project," Allen said, scribbling something on a small Compu-Pad. "'No...mall.' Got it!"

"Hey, put that away!" Marlene said. "We can't have that out in the past. I'm sure that there's some paper somewhere. In the meantime I'm thirsty. Wanna buy me a drink? The Cafe 80s should be just down the street."

"Hmm, let me think about that...NO!" Allen said, chuckling. "It was my treat last time I let you talk me into something like this. You can get your own."

"Hmmph!" Marlene said, putting on her best pouty look. "So much for chivalry!"

"Screw chivalry, you owe me money!"

As they neared the Cafe 80s, they noticed that in its place was a much cleaner restaurant called "Lou's Cafe."

"Hmm...This must be the 1980s counterpart to the Cafe 80s," Allen said. "Fascinating!"

"Hey smart guy, nobody says "Hmmm" in real life!" Marlene said as they entered Lou's Cafe.

"Hey, Jennifer!" a girl called from the far left end of the restaurant. "How are you? Is this your new boyfriend?"

"Wait, is she talking to me!" Marlene muttered under her breath.

"She must have mistaken you for your mother." Allen exclaimed. "Do something!"

"Uh, um...yeah!" Marlene said, pulling Allen close to her and then laying her head on his shoulder. "You know we belong together like that old song by Mariah Carey!"

The other girl had a funny look on her face. "Mariah _who_?"

"DARN!" Marlene muttered. "I forgot she hasn't hit the scene yet!"

"Wow..." Allen said.

"Uh, you'll hear about her...uh, pretty soon!" Marlene said suddenly. "Well, gotta go!" She and Allen ran like rabbits out the door.

"This was a bad idea!" Allen said. "We never should have stayed. Come on, it's getting dark and we need to get back to the future!" As they neared the McFlys' front lawn, they noticed that the garage door was up.

"That's odd..." Marlene said.

To their horror, they discovered Marty lying on the garage floor unconscious--and the Toyota was gone!

**_NEXT: THE FAST, THE FURIOUS, AND THE FUTURE!_**


	4. Thursday, September 26, 1986, 06:05 pm

Disclaimer: I do not own _Back to the Future_, the best science fiction trilogy ever next to _Star Wars_.

Thursday, September 26, 1986, 06:15 p.m.

Marty McFly was in a haze. Suddenly he was on his couch, but he didn't remember…the only thing he could remember was…­_Needles_…

"Mar--Dad--Marty!"

"Huh­?"

"Marty, what happened?"

"Allen…Marlene…­Needles…­he stole the…he stole the truck. My head ­hurts…"

"You mean Douglas J. Needles!" Marlene cried. "Marty, he's harmless! Why would he do this!"

Marty sat up, wincing at the pain in his forehead. "About a year ago, I embarrassed him in a would-be street race that would have resulted in me colliding with a Rolls-Royce. He never got over it!"

"What are you talking about? You guys are the best of friends in the future!"

"Some friend! He took the Toyota, Marlene. How harmless is grand theft auto!" Allen said. "Anyway, something's gotta be done about all of this!"

"I…I'm supposed to race him tomorrow night. But I don't have a car!­ How will I ever get that truck back!"

"I don't suppose we could use the DeLorean­?" Allen interjected.

"NO!" Marty said suddenly. "That is your ticket home! What if you wreck it!"

"_Sigh_…you're right. So now what do we do!" Allen said. "We can't just let this happen!"

"Let's just get out of here!" Marlene said. "I mean, we have more than enough information for our project, and we've screwed up the space-time continuum more than enough for one day..."

"Yeah, ­I can't believe you mentioned Mariah Carey...so stupid of you!" Allen said.

"Well, would you have thought of anything better?" Marlene chuckled nervously. "After all, you're the one who has a picture of her for your desktop on your PSP 4!"

"Ummm...I have no idea what you're talking about, Marlene..."

"Oh, and you have like, five old posters of her!"

'They're my dad's!"

"Will you guys stop arguing and go already! You're making my head hurt worse!" Marty said.

"That's a great idea! Come on, Marlene!" Allen said with great sarcasm.

Precisely three minutes and ten seconds later, Marlene and Allen were back in their 2016 attire and sitting in the DeLorean.

"Well, ready?" Allen asked.

'I guess…" Marlene said sadly. "I just wish there was something else we could do...­it just feels so wrong, leaving the past all messed up like this. There must be something we could do…"

"There's nothing we can do. And besides, you should respect your dad's wishes. He knows what he's doing. I hope the po-po get that Needles guy. Oh, and Marlene?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm driving this time."

"Hope you know what you're doing..." Marlene quipped as they switched sides.

"Hey, I know which one is the gas and which one is the brake...I think." He put the time machine in reverse so that they'd have enough road to get up to 88.

"Allen, why not just use the hover function?" Marlene asked.

"I would, but it's just too conspicuous." Allen said. He set the Destination Time to May 1st, 2016, 05:52 p.m. He turned the key and the engine roared to life as he began accelerating.

_60._

"I don't know, I just have a really bad feeling about this!" Marlene said.

_78._

"Don't worry...it'll be fine!"

_80._

"Prepare for temporal displacement!" Allen said.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just always wanted to say that."

_88._

_**BANG! BANG! BANG! WHOOSH!**_

The world disappeared around them in a flash of blue light, only to reconfigure itself in a more familiar way. Allen looked out the window as the car came to a slow stop outside the former Lyon Estates...­they were back.

"It worked, Marlene...­we're back!"

"Great...­before we go back to my house, let's stop by the Cafe 80s so I can buy you that drink I owe you, okay?"

"Uh, ­sure. Marlene, are you ok? For the past 15 minutes, you've been like, really sad."

"You think!" Marlene suddenly snapped. "My father's favorite earthly possession was stolen because of us! Do you think I'm really happy right now?"

Allen sighed. "I...­I guess not. Come on, I'll take you home."

As they pulled into the McFly driveway, Allen checked the place out. "Well, so far everything looks normal…let's go see your dad."

They opened the door to find Needles and the older Marty arguing over the monitor phone. "N-now, now Needles, I'm not going to help you. Y-you'll have to find someone else to cheat the system for you. I—I don't care if you're my supervisor or not. You can't have my keycard!"

"Too late, McFfffly…" Needles lisped evilly. He pushed a button on his PC to reveal a printout. "I OWN you. All I have to do is hack into Corporate and get your number fffrom the computer. I'll get the money you owe me one way or the other. And sssince it'sss your card, if I get caught, you'll be the one serving time! Catch you later!" The screen flicked off.

"That bastard…" Marty said, his head in his hands. What am I gonna tell Jennifer? This is _heavy_…"

"I don't believe this!" Marlene whispered. "This isn't the future I remember. We've got to go back and fix this! This never should have happened!"

"Clearly, the car theft from 1986 has resulted in this…alternate future, this alternate 2016…alternate to you and me, but reality for everyone else." Allen said. "You're right. The only way we can fix this is to go back in time and stop Needles from stealing the Toyota from young Marty. That single event caused a chain reaction, resulting in this alternate future."

"Couldn't we just go back to earlier today and stop ourselves from taking the time machine to 1986? If it wasn't for us—"

"Probably, but I read something recently…a theory about time paradoxes. If we were to see our other selves, we could possibly screw up the space time continuum even more! The best thing to do is stop this whole mess at the source—and Douglas J. Needles is that source!"

"I guess you're right—"

"However, since we don't know the exact time and circumstances of the theft, we should go back early…perhaps warning Marty early could be too dangerous. We should find this Needles and tail him…"

"Here—"Marlene said, reaching into a nearby closet. She had an old Hill Valley High School letterman's jacket. "For your disguise."

Allen tried on the jacket. "It's a little small…"

"I know…but it shows off your muscles." She smiled shyly.

Allen was speechless. "Well—um, we should probably, uh, get going, right?" He chuckled nervously. So, find some old clothes and let's get going!"

Allen looked his digital watch. Marlene had been in her room for nearly 20 minutes now while he waited on the front porch.

"Geez…"

Suddenly Marlene emerged in a matching black tee, Capri's, and sneakers.

"I was sort of going for the "Goth" look…" She turned to the side. "What do you think?"

"Uh…great! The shirt really shows your figure without making you look like a skank and—"

"Allen?"

"Yeah?"

"My face is up here."

"…"

"Look, let's try this again. I'm Marlene." She extended her hand and Allen shook it.

"I'm Allen Thomas…"

"Good. Now that we're acquainted, let's go save the future!"

_**NEXT: BACK TO THE PAST AGAIN!**_


	5. Friday, May 1st, 2016, 05:52 pm

Disclaimer: I don't have any rights or ownership to _Back to the Future_…

Friday, May 1st, 2016, 05:52 p.m.

"Well, Allen, I guess we can do this now." Marlene said as they got into the DeLorean. "We have our disguises…"

"Yeah… is the Mr. Fusion thingy full?" Allen asked from the driver's seat.

"Wait…" The Mr. Fusion made a sharp _WHOOSH_ noise as Marlene opened it. "Yeah…I think we're good. Allen, what's bothering you? We've been ready to leave for 1986 for at least five minutes. What are you thinking about?"

"Well, there's something that keeps bothering me. We don't know WHEN Needles stole the DeLorean. We have to find out the specific time and circumstances."

"We already covered this, Allen. We were already planning on following him."

"It still seems like something could go wrong."

"Don't worry about it! We are going to be fine, Allen. We go back in time, fix this mess, come back to our… future _reality_ or whatever you call it, and go out on our first date."

"Did I hear you right, Marlene? _A date?_ That's what you said?"

"What, you don't want to go out with me?"

"It's not that, it's just that it seems a little…odd. I thought that the guy was supposed to ask the girl!"

"Sure…that's exactly how they did it when my dad was a kid. Tell you what, when we get back to1986, you can ask me then."

"Sure. Anyway, let's go!" Allen set the time circuits to Thursday, September 26, 1986, 04:15 p.m. and zero seconds. "We'll go back exactly two hours early, maybe warn your Dad, and—"

"Wait, maybe it would be better if we didn't tell my father. It would confuse him, and besides, we can't compromise our cover."

"Perhaps…"

Allen activated the hover circuits, put the DeLorean in reverse and began accelerating.

"Well, here goes nothing!" Allen said. "There it is, 88 miles per—"

**_SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! POP! POP! POP!_**

Thursday, September 26, 1986, 04:15 p.m.

_**BANG! BANG! BANG! WHOOSH!**_

The DeLorean rematerialized in the Hilldale of 1986.

"Dang, that was LOUD!" Allen said. "You think anybody saw us?"

"No, I don't think so. The area looks pretty deserted to me," Marlene said as she looked around. "So I guess since no one can see us…" She reached over and kissed Allen hard on the lips. She was almost sure she saw a slight smile of pleasant surprise on his face.

"What the heck was that!" Allen said as he pulled away, wiping his lips with his hand. "I can taste your Chap-Stick. Can't you at least wait 'til we're finished here? Geez!"

"But you liked it, didn't you?"

"Well, ye—NO! I—"

"It's okay. Maybe later."

Yeah, much later. I believe in waiting!"

"Really? Me, too!"

"Oh, sure, you believe in waiting, that's why you got all aggressive just now!"

"No, I really do. It's just that I got a little… absorbed in the moment."

"You sure did! You were like a lioness on the prowl! Please don't do that again."

"Fine, then I won't."

"Good."

They got out of the car and surveyed the area. "I guess you were right! There's like, no one here."

"Yeah…like I said, the area's pretty deserted."

"Well, we've got to get to the Lyon Estates. That's where your dad…your _future_ dad…lives, right?

"Yeah…"

"Well then, we'll go around the back way to keep suspicion off us. I know a shortcut."

About 30 minutes later, Allen and Marlene pulled up to the McFly's driveway. Clearly the McFly's were gone, there was no one at the house.

"I can't believe you consider that a shortcut." Marlene said as they got out. "That route must have taken us down every back road in town."

"But it was worth it—no one saw the time machine, right?" Allen asked.

"I guess…"

"Well, anyway, we should hide this thing somewhere."

After stashing the DeLorean behind a blindspot near the house, Allen and Marlene snuck around to the back to wait for Needles. They only hoped they weren't too late. If they were, coming back to that moment in time yet again would complicate things even more with two doubles…and they'd have to avoid each one. They _had_ to succeed!

**_NEXT: A NEEDLES IN TIME!_**


	6. Thursday, September 26, 1986, 04:19 pm

Disclaimer: Money made off this story: zero dollars. Money in my bank account: zero dollars. Having fun writing a fan fiction: priceless.

Thursday, September 26, 1986, 04:19 p.m.

"I can't believe we're doing this." Marlene said.

"What do you mean?" asked Allen.

"Look, Allen, we have no plan. What are we going to do, rush this Needles guy when he comes up to steal the truck? He could be armed, and if we get shot here in the past, then we'll never exist, and--"

"And then we'll have a major paradox." Allen muttered angrily, realization slapping him in the face like a wet towel. "You're right. We can't just sit here waiting for something bad to happen. We could bust a scene here. What if we fail? I just don't know what to do."

"I have an idea!" Marlene said suddenly. Her face lit up like a firecracker. "And it just might work…"

"What?"

"Can we take the DeLorean out in the daylight?"

"No, Marlene, you know we can't do that. What if someone steals it? Then we'll be stranded here while someone else wreaks havoc through the space-time continuum."

"Fine, you stay here. I can walk into town. There's just a few more things I need to pick up for our mission." She got up to leave.

"Wait, Marlene, you'll need some currency." Allen reached into the back seat and pulled out a briefcase containing money from various different eras and time periods. He pulled two twenties out of the "1985" pile and handed them to her. "Remember, Marlene, there aren't any press-your-thumbprint keypads yet, so you have to use this." She took it with a start.

"WOW! Real green money. This is a collector's item in 2016--"

"Never mind that now, never mind, never mind. Just do your thing and get back here ASAP."

"You know, you don't have to push me around. I'm not your slave."

"What?"

"You heard me. Throughout this entire trip you've done nothing but act like a condescending little--"

"Now hold on, waaaaaaiit a minute! You did NOT just say that, Marlene."

"The hell I didn't. You are so…UGH!"

"I don't get it. What is your problem? I try to help YOUR family, endanger MY existence along with yours for the heck of it, and YOU do THIS to me?!" Allen threw up his hands in disgust. "After this is over, and we get back, don't talk to me again. These last few hours have shown me what kind of person you REALLY are. You're just a self-righteous jerk who--"

"Just shut up, Allen!"

"Fine!"

"I'll be back in 25—I need some FRESH air."

"Well, go then! Don't tell me about it!"

_Slam! _The door's reverberating echo seemed to jolt Allen from a deep trance. _Oh_ _my God, what did I just_ do? he asked himself. _It's bad enough that she snapped at me, but I made it worse by doing the same to her_. He sighed. _I guess I'll talk to her later…after she cools off_. He leaned back in the DeLorean's rather comfy seat. All he could do now…was wait.

Exactly thirty-five minutes later, Allen was looking at his digital watch in disgust. She was supposed to be back ten minutes ago. _Where is she?!_ He sat up with a start. For a fleeting second, he thought he saw a tall lanky teenaged boy with buck teeth and curly jet-black hair like a raven's disappear into the McFlys' garage. _NEEDLES? No…it can't be…but I can't leave the car here…_ He surveyed the scene. _Well, it's parked in a blindspot…and he can't see me…but I can sure see him!_ Allen began stealthily making his way towards the house. If Marlene didn't show up, too bad. He could handle this guy by himself…

"So, McFffly, thought you could outsmart me, huh?" muttered Needles as he made his way into the garage. His ugly face twisted into a sneer of contempt. "We'll see who's the fool now! Thiss truck isss mine!!"

"I don't think so."

"Who--?"

Marty McFly emerged from the back of the garage with a baseball bat to face Needles. "What is your problem, man? I tried to reconcile this whole thing with you but you just would not listen to me. If I would have raced you that day, I would have hit the Rolls-Royce and you wouldn't even have cared."

_Maybe I won't have to do as much as I thought_, Allen mused as he peeked around the corner. _Maybe by helping Marty, he can help me…_

"What is your problem, Needles?" Marty asked again, tightening his grip on the bat.

"Nothin'. Just wanna take a little ride, if you don't mind, McFfly…" Needles stepped toward the truck with a despicable smirk. Marty yelled and rushed at him with the bat. Needles ducked as Marty smashed through his own front passenger's seat window.

_**CRASH!**_

"NO!" Marty yelled, reeling at the shock. Needles began to laugh maniacally, nailing with the bat Marty first in the gut, and then in a very unfriendly place before opening the truck's door, throwing the bat down.

"HA HA HA HA! I crashed you, McFffly, and I can still crash this stupid truck!!"

"How are you gonna do that, Needles??" Allen asked, stepping out of the shadows and into the dim yellow light of the garage. "You don't have the key…you're out of options, dude."

"Who the hell are you?!" Needles asked.

"Western Union. And I've got a special delivery… just for you." Allen kicked Needles hard in the nuts. He fell to the ground, cowering in pain. "That'll teach you not to mess with other people's stuff--"

THWACK! Needles had picked up the bat again, smacking Allen's feet out from under him before slamming him in the groin. He searched the now unconscious Marty's pockets until he found the keys. "I'm gonna go now…" he said, still wincing from the pain in his own groin. "But I'll be back… for you, whoever you are." He pointed at Allen. "You're next." The screech of the Toyota's tires and Needles' own maniacal laughter filled the air like an ominous mist as he sped off into the California sunset…

Marlene couldn't believe how long it had taken her to walk back…but now she could see the "Lyon Estates" sign as she approached Marty's—her dad's—house. She could hear a motor running…it sounded like a car speeding off. She ran as quickly as she could to the scene, but it was already too late. Allen was slumped over on the ground muttering, her father was unconscious, and the truck was gone…

"Marlene--?" Allen asked weakly, struggling to talk.

"Oh, Allen, what did you do? What happened?" Marlene could clearly see that her friend was in excruciating pain.

"Needles…he ca-came and t-took the t-t-truck," he answered hoarsely. "I—I tried to stop him, but it was too late."

"It's okay…" she caressed his forehead gently. "Can you drive?"

"Y-yeah. Just don't ask me to run a mile anytime soon." He coughed.

"Which way did Needles go?"

"E-east, towards the River Run tunnel."

"You know, I can't exactly place it, but something about this whole thing is very…_familiar_…" Marty muttered before dropping out of consciousness again.

"We'll beat him there…" Allen said, rising to his feet. "I know a shortcut…"

_NEXT: MARLENE'S PLAN!_


	7. Thursday, September 26, 1986, 04:25 pm

Disclaimer: No, I do not own BTTF in any way, shape or form, and this story is only written for my fellow BTTF fans to see and read. So there! ;)

Thursday, September 26, 1986, 04:25 p.m.

Marlene McFly and Allen Thomas raced desperately toward the River Run Tunnel. They were out of options. The only way to end their tiresome journey of time-travel was to take Marlene's father's truck back from Douglas J. Needles, Marty's friend who was beginning to seem more and more like a malicious enemy.

"Marlene…" Allen groaned, sitting up in the passenger's seat of the DeLorean.

"What?"

"Why did Needles choose to lead us here?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean—what is the significance of this place? Does Needles want us to follow him here for a reason, or is it just…random?"

"I don't know."

"Well, surely, it must mean something."

"Look, I just know that if we don't get that truck back, my future is going to suck."

"This is true." Allen peeked out the window. He could see a small black streak moving about a hundred feet ahead of them. He could now just barely see the tunnel—but there was something at the end of the long crevasse. "Marlene—I think he's going to crash the truck—there's construction work going on down there—look!"

"Oh my God! If he crashes into that barricade--"

"He could not only destroy the truck, but kill himself!! This is suicide! Why is he doing this??"

"I don't know. But someone has to stop him. Allen, I am going to speed up the DeLorean a bit. Hand me the ski mask on the dash and your hoverboard. I have an idea."

"What?"

"I intercept the truck, pretend to steal it, and Dad gets it back."

"WHAT?!" Allen cried. "And just how are you going to do that?! He's going too fast, and you'll get run over anyway."

"Didn't you put some Pit Bull style mods on it anyway? Griff was harassing you in the hallway about it last week at school. He wants a Pit Bull hoverboard—I thought he already had one? Anyway, I think I can go fast enough if the DeLorean gives me a boost." She pulled Marty's bat from the back. "I brought this just in case."

"Marlene…you know what happens if you fail, right…?" Allen trailed off. "You could die, get run over, crash into the barricade yourself."

"Yes…" Marlene said, slipping on the ski mask and a pair of leather gloves. "But if Needles crashes that truck, something worse will happen to him."

They were running out of time. Marlene steadily opened the gull-wing door and slipped out onto the pavement. "Allen!" she whispered, the _WHOOSH_ of the hoverboard startling her. "How do you work the boosters??"

"Oh no, I almost forgot!" Allen quickly reached into the back and produced a dome-shaped metallic helmet. "The controls are synaptic."

Marlene fastened the helmet's harness. "Okay, this is it, try to keep up!" she said, giving him the thumbs-up sign and closing the door. The DeLorean sped up as she hung on to it by the door's handle. The truck was getting closer. She let go. The hoverboard was now going very, very fast, at least as fast as a car. Marlene wondered if she would have to use the boosters at all.

Needles saw something very odd in McFly's—no, _his_—rearview mirror. A person in a ski mask—on a flying skateboard? With a baseball bat?? There was a muffled explosion. The skater was moving faster. Needles could now see the person was wearing a ski mask. Before he knew it, the skater was at his side smashing into the window with the bat.

"PULL OVER!" the mysterious figure yelled.

_CRASH!_

"I SAID, PULL OVER!"

Needles hit the brakes in a panic. The truck stopped, sending the bat-wielding maniac flying into the pavement. The skateboard broke into two pieces as she—Needles could see the skater had the build of a woman—slammed onto the ground with a resounding _THUD_. She didn't seem to be breathing.

"Well, well…" Needles said, stepping out the car. "You thought you could take me, huh?" He pulled off the mask. "Well, she has a face—and a pretty one, at that. I almost don't want to waste it," he said, picking up the bat. "But then again…" He dropped it and hopped back into the car. "Maybe I can make this look like an accident." He put the Toyota in reverse.

_NEXT: LAST RESORT!!_


	8. Thursday, September 26, 1986, 04:31 pm

Disclaimer: No money made off of this. Really, I'm serious!!

Thursday, September 26, 1986, 04:31 p.m.

Needles grinned as he put the truck in reverse. Whoever this girl was, she wouldn't be bothering him again. Especially not after—

_SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!_

A stainless steel DeLorean came to a screeching halt behind the Toyota. The black guy from before leaped out with an angry look on his face. Needles got out of the truck and turned to face him.

"Sso, you came ffor a rematch?" Needles smirked. "I thought you'd had enough. I guesss ssome people just don't know when to quit."

"Look, man, leave the girl alone…this is between you…and me."

"Whatever. I don't know why you won't leave me alone. This doesssn'tt consssern you. What are you, McFffly's pal? What'ss so special about a sstupid ttruck anyway?"

"You're about to find out," the black guy said, smiling. "NOW!"

_WHACK!_

The bat collided with the back of Needles' head, rendering him senseless. He slumped to the ground, seemingly unconscious. Marlene threw it down with a start. "We did it! We finally did it! Now we can go home!" She hugged Allen tightly. "Thank you! Thank you so much! This couldn't have been accomplished without you!"

"Well, hey, I'm just along for the ride." Allen said. "What else could I have done? It's almost been rather…fun."

"I know, it has. Maybe after we get back, we can--"

_BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP_!

"Oh God, is that the DeLorean's--"

To Allen and Marlene's horror, Needles had managed to sneak away and get into the DeLorean. The engine roared to life as Needles streaked towards the barricade.

"Sayonara, suckers!! I think I like your car better!"

"NO! If he crashes the DeLorean--!" Allen exclaimed.

Just before the DeLorean would have hit the barricade, an explosion of electricity and blue lightning swallowed it, leaving the two flaming tire trails behind.

"OH, MY GOD!!" Marlene bellowed. "NO! This can't be happening! He just--"

"The time machine…gone?" Allen mused. "This—this is bad. What will we do now?"

"Well, the time circuits were set for 2016, and that's where Needles is now…relatively speaking."

"Yeah, technically he is skipping over this very moment on his way to the Hill Valley of the future. _Our_ future."

"I can't believe it. Why did this have to happen to us? How will we ever get home?!"

"There is…_one_ possible solution."

Twenty minutes later, the battered black Toyota four by four creaked lazily into the McFlys' driveway. It was now very dark, and a soft rain was beginning to fall from the thundering heavens.

"At least now, the truck is okay. I hope your father is happy," Allen said as they approached the front door. Before Allen could touch the doorknob, Marty opened the door with a start. A look of bewilderment was etched across his face.

"How the hell did you guys come back so fast? You just left. Geez, is that the Toyota?"

"Yep."

"Oh, well, hey, I mean, this is great, huh? Where's Needles?"

"You see, Marty, that's the problem." Marlene sighed.

"What?"

"Needles! He stole the DeLorean and now he's doing God knows what in 2016."

"Oh, this is _heavy_! Maybe you'd better come inside and sit down."

"I forgot to mention before, this really is a nice place you've got here," Allen said, wiping his wet shoes on the mat. "Really nice."

"Yes, it is. Now, how in the hell are we gonna get you two home?!" Marty asked as they seated themselves on the long white sofa.

"Well, you have those diagrams and blueprints, don't you? In the future, you always had these diagrams. It's how you built the time machine!"

"Diagrams? Blueprints? I have no idea what you mean, Allen. The only one who could possibly help you is long gone in the past—the original inventor of the time machine went to live in 1885, in the past...he would be dead by now. His things are in his old laboratory—maybe there's still something there that can help us. I have a key."

"Is there anything we can do? The technology used to create such a machine would be extremely expensive, right?" Marlene asked.

"He said that it took nearly his entire family fortune to build the original DeLorean. It worked basically the same, with the notable exception of not having "Hot Rod" flames painted on the hood like that. I think that a guy like the Doc—that was what we called him—would always have spare parts lying around. It shouldn't be much a problem, if we're lucky."

"Wait a minute, you said there was another DeLorean time machine? Whatever happened to it?" asked Allen.

"It's a really long story, but the point is that after a desperate trip back to 1985 from the year 1885 about a year ago, the other time machine was destroyed. I was worried that Doc wouldn't have been able to make it back to the present since he was still in the past, but he ended up building another time machine out of a steam train and he came back. He told me not to worry about him, and after wishing my girlfriend Jennifer—Marlene's mom—and I happy lives, he went back to 1885 to happily live out his days with his wife, Clara Clayton Brown. I guess he's happy right now. Anyway, he was always the type who took precaution and was prepared for anything. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a brand-new time machine sitting in that garage right now. I haven't been there in a while…it feels terrible sometimes, now that he's…gone, but I always knew that I would, someday. I guess now is that time."

Just then, the deadbolt to the front door turned as a middle aged couple and two twenty-somethings—a tall, spare guy with curly brown hair wearing a business suit and a short, curvaceous girl--walked in.

"Hey, Marty! Sorry we're late, there was terrible traffic!" the older man said. "Your mother brought pizza. What happened to the Toyota?"

"Well, Dad, I, ah, I mean, there was--"

"A vandal," Allen said. "It was vandalism. My sister Marl—uh, _Mary_ and I saw the whole thing."

Everyone looked at them with strange looks on their faces, clearly confused as Marty stifled a laugh.

"Oh! Well, I'm sure that it seems…odd that we'd be siblings, but that's just genetics, you know, a great, big, swirling pool of possibilities!" Allen trailed off. "Umm..

"But anyway, yeah, it was just terrible," Marlene said. "We saw this crazy buck-toothed kid smacking the truck with a baseball bat. He ran for it after he noticed Marty coming towards him."

"Oh, God, was it Needles?" the younger woman asked. "I thought you'd gotten a restraining order, Marty!"

"Well, Linda, I had no idea he was going to--"

"Oh, Marty, we'll worry about it in the morning, honey," the older woman who was obviously Marty's mother said. "I'm sure Biff can get it fixed up in no time. Anyway, let's eat! Your friends are welcome to join us!"

Five minutes later, the McFlys and the time travelers were seated at the dinner table. "Now, I know that it's a little crowded here tonight, but that doesn't mean that we can't get to know each other. I'm Lorraine, Marty's mother, this is my husband George--"

"Hello!" the older man said. "Nice meeting both of you."

"And, over here, seated next to Allen, we have Linda and Dave, Marty's brother and sister."

"Hi, sweetheart! What brings you two here?" Linda asked, batting her eyes flirtaciously at Allen. Dave simply grunted a "Hey" through mouthfuls of pepperoni pizza.

"Oh, not much. Our parents are, uh, out of town and we were walking around Hill Valley for a bit when we found Marty," Marlene mumbled.

"Well, do you two have a place to stay for the night?" George asked. "You're more than welcome to stay here."

"How…hospitable of you," Marlene said. "We'd be happy to stay."

"Oh, yes, stay as long as you want," Linda chimed in, staring lustfully at Allen. He blushed and turned away. "You're more than welcome to sleep in _my_ room."

"May I be excused for a second?" Allen asked, rising abruptly from the table.

"Oh, certainly," George replied.

_We're really in deep this time_, Marlene thought. _Poor Allen. That girl really likes him and he can't handle it. _She chuckled softly to herself._ It's definitely time to go, but I can handle a little more of 1986, right?_

Later that evening, as Allen laid lazily on the livng room sofa, curled up with a blanket, Marlene walked out to the kitchen to get a glass of water before bed. The others were already asleep.

"Allen?"

"What is it?"

"Do you think we'll ever get home?"

"Of course, I have faith that Marty can take care of our problem," Allen mused, sitting up in his seat. "He built the time machine, remember?"

"Of course, but that was a part of this Doc or whoever's legacy. Now that we're here, what if we've screwed that up? What if Marty doesn't feel...confident enough to do this? He's been really down since he starting sharing memories of his friend. Maybe he feels like he can't measure up. He obviously has the utmost respect for the guy."

"I don't know, Marlene...only time will tell."

And with that, the two weary time travelers settled down, believing that the morning would bring new hope and new adventures for them to experience. But would they ever get home?

_TO BE CONTINUED…_


End file.
